How is the character Gerasim portrayed in chapters 9-12 of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich? Is he a realistic or unrealistic character? Provide textual evidence to support your response.

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Kyra

30 November, 13:46

How is the character Gerasim portrayed in chapters 9-12 of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich? Is he a realistic or unrealistic character? Provide textual evidence to support your response.

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Lucia Drake · Answer 1

Olstoy presents an unrealistic portrayal of the character Gerasim in chapters 9-12. The kindness and patience he shows when attending to his sick master for long hours are not entirely believable. The following excerpt from chapter 9 shows that Gerasim is completely unaffected by the daily unpleasantness of attending to Ivan Ilyich's needs:

Gerasim was sitting at the foot of the bed dozing quietly and patiently, while he himself lay with his emaciated stockinged legs resting on Gerasim's shoulders; the same shaded candle was there and the same unceasing pain.

Marsh · Answer 2

The answer on plato is:

Tolstoy presents an unrealistic portrayal of the character Gerasim in chapters 9-12. The kindness and patience he shows when attending to his sick master for long hours are not entirely believable. The following excerpt from chapter 9 shows that Gerasim is completely unaffected by the daily unpleasantness of attending to Ivan Ilyich's needs:

Gerasim was sitting at the foot of the bed dozing quietly and patiently, while he himself lay with his emaciated stockinged legs resting on Gerasim's shoulders; the same shaded candle was there and the same unceasing pain.

"Go away, Gerasim," he whispered.

"It's all right, sir. I'll stay a while."

Tolstoy shows no flaws in Gerasim's character. Gerasim does not have the qualities that characters usually have in realist works. He is not ordinary. His approach to life and death is not conventional. He is the only character in the book who doesn't lie about Ivan Ilyich's condition. He accepts the fact of his master's illness and does not feel the need to hide it. He is not afraid of death. The following excerpt from chapter 11 shows that Gerasim inspires Ivan Ilyich to reflect on his past life and to eventually acknowledge that he had based his life on superficial values:

His mental sufferings were due to the fact that that night, as he looked at Gerasim's sleepy, good-natured face with its prominent cheek-bones, the question suddenly occurred to him: "What if my whole life has been wrong?